A Rabbit and a Cat
by Sorceress Fantasia
Summary: There were some things Allen knew simply by catching a glimpse inside his comrades’ suitcases. There were a lot of things Allen didn’t know because he only caught a glimpse and saw what he saw. But both Kanda and Lavi knew.


Title: A Rabbit and a Cat

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Characters: Lavi/Kanda, Allen

Warnings: Sap, fluff

Word count: 1996

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man and any of its characters.

Summary: There were some things Allen knew simply by catching a glimpse inside his comrades' suitcases. There were a lot of things Allen didn't know because he only caught a glimpse and saw what he saw. But both Kanda and Lavi knew.

Note: This fic is dedicated to elkica for her continued support and encouragement all these years. Happy birthday, dear. :)

* * *

The first time Allen shared a room with Kanda during a mission (only because Allen had protested very loudly that he would sue for emotional abuse if he was forced into the stables with the horse), he caught a glimpse of the contents inside the other's luggage.

And then he wished he hadn't.

Since day one, Allen had always known Kanda to be aloof, distant, and cold to the point of rivaling Antarctica. Cute was the furthest thing from him. Adorable would not be a good word to describe him. Sweetness was what he put in his coffee, not his personality.

So there shouldn't be a rabbit plush toy in the man's suitcase.

But there was.

Maybe Allen would have felt a lot more comfortable had the rabbit be missing an eye, had a torn ear threatening to fall off, or even just being plain dirty.

But it wasn't.

Instead, the rabbit looked so white it might have just finished a bleach job. Both of its button eyes were intact and tightly sewn, its ears were beautifully attached to its head, and its little bob tail remained fluffy and perky as well.

Just as Allen was re-evaluating the Japanese exorcist as having a closet fixation for cute things (which would explain why he was at least polite towards Lenalee), Kanda seemed to feel his gaze and finally looked up from his luggage where he had been rummaging for his toiletries. Suddenly, the room temperature took a nosedive. It was a nosedive more sudden and more drastic than the stock market during a depression, and Allen had to forcefully suppress a shiver lest he showed his weakness.

Kanda fixed him with a wordless glare that was as hard as diamond, and as wordless as the glare was, Allen could just see Kanda's inner monologue.

"Say anything and you'll lose an arm, courtesy of Mugen. Utter a syllable and you'll lose a leg, courtesy of Mugen. Make a sound and you'll lose your head, courtesy of Mugen." Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Mugen was seriously a little too courteous for Allen's taste. Really.

As if on cue to prove Allen wrong -that he had no closet fetish for cute things- Kanda tugged at his hair tie. As it slid off smoothly, the Japanese exorcist's long flowing tresses broke free of their usual ponytail and fluttered down, falling against his back like a waterfall. Coupled with the steady stream of moonlight flooding the room through its only window, the moon-kissed Kanda reminded Allen of the fairy queen Titania. Regal, powerful, and gorgeous as hell.

This realization made it difficult for Allen to tear his eyes away from Kanda, who snorted and turned back to fasten his hair tie around the rabbit's neck. Those lithe fingers tying the hair tie into a ribbon made the whole action seem so elegant and graceful.

The revelatory moment was cut short when, as though to spite Allen, Kanda gave the ends of the hair tie a sudden, sharp tug and very nearly decapitated the rabbit.

As Kanda padded into the bathroom with his toiletries and hair trailing behind him, Allen laughed nervously and said a quick prayer for the choking rabbit.

'_Ah, so it's for Kanda to keep his hair tie. Not that I thought even for a moment that he had a thing for cute rabbits. Of course not.'_

-----

The first time Allen shared a room with Lavi during a mission (before which he had to grudgingly promise Lavi that he would keep to his side of the only bed in the room), he caught a glimpse of the contents in the other man's suitcase.

It wasn't as though he wanted to, but it was difficult not to stare when what looked like a cat plush toy's tail was hanging out from Lavi's closed suitcase. It reminded Allen strongly of bait at the end of a fishing hook beckoning for a hungry fish to open its jaw and chomp down on it, except that Allen was not a fish (the hungry part was debatable, however).

Just as he was debating the merits of ignoring the tail and going to sleep as though he had not seen anything, Lavi popped out from behind the bathroom door with his hair wet and dripping.

"Hey Allen, grab me my towel from my suitcase, would you?" he hollered.

The gentleman in Allen forbade him from refusing, so with no questions asked, he hurried over to Lavi's suitcase and opened it. And he stared. But gentlemen did not ask unwanted and possibly private questions, so he quickly drew out Lavi's towel and tossed it into the bathroom.

As the sounds of splashing water and Lavi whistling filled the bathroom again, Allen plopped down onto his bed. And he stared. Because the cat plush toy in Lavi's suitcase was staring back at him straight in the eye.

It was when Allen's eyes moved to the cat's paw to see if the animal came complete with sawdust-worthy claws that he noticed a hair tie tied around its forearm. And it wasn't just any hair tie, but the very same one he had seen Lavi haggle over with an old lady that afternoon while they were walking around town after a completed mission.

They had been chatting and walking down a street together on their way for a late lunch when suddenly, Allen realized he was talking to himself. The space where Lavi should have been occupying was empty and looked like it had been that way for a while. Frowning, Allen turned around and there Lavi was, seemingly chatting up to someone with a wide smile on his face. Lavi's conversation partner was blocked out from Allen's line of sight by a protruding wall, but he had little doubt that she was a lovely young lady, if the expression on his friend's face was anything to go by. It was that same look he'd gotten when they'd first met Eliade and Lulubell.

Stomping up with his left arm poised to activate and drag Lavi off for some food, Allen found himself stumbling over his feet when he got a good look at the other person. She was a lady all right, but with her grey hair, wrinkled face and bony fingers, she couldn't be Lavi's type. Not unless Lavi had a sudden and very drastic change in his perception of beauty, which would have to have taken place overnight after Allen found him flirting with a barmaid yesterday.

Then Lavi, noticing him, held up his hand and asked, "Hey Allen, which one do you think is prettier? The red or the white?"

Selective tunnel vision cured, Allen finally saw what Lavi was holding up: two hair ties, one red and one white.

He blinked. "Huh?"

Lavi's smile did not waver. "Which one do you think is prettier? The red or the white?"

Allen continued to blink. "Err… the white one?"

"Just as I thought. Hey madam, I'm getting the white one."

As Lavi haggled with the old lady again, Allen could only stand by the side and wonder about the reason for the purchase. It wasn't as though Lavi had the hair to warrant a hair tie. Lenalee did, but it was never a good idea to risk incurring Komui's insane wrath and she would require two hair ties for her preferred hairstyle. Maybe it was for another girl he had met?

And now the white hair tie was wrapped around the cat plush toy's forearm in some strange rendition of a bracelet. Maybe the cat was some sort of jewelry case too?

How odd.

-----

There were some things Allen knew simply by catching a glimpse of what was inside his comrades' suitcases.

There were a lot of things Allen didn't know because he'd only caught a glimpse and saw what he saw.

But both Kanda and Lavi knew.

-----

Kanda knew.

He had allowed his eyes to rest on a rabbit plush toy for a second too long in a funfair, and having noticed that, Lavi immediately won it for him at the games. Despite how he had refused to accept the toy because toys were for children and he was no overgrown child, Lavi had insisted adamantly that it'd keep him company for days they were apart. Let it be another me, he'd said. Kanda won a matching cat plush toy for Lavi after that.

Lavi knew.

No matter how much Kanda had refused to accept his rabbit plush toy at first, Kanda's eyes had lit up when they noticed the matching rabbit and cat plush toys sitting together at the highest shelf at a funfair games store. And similarly, those beautiful eyes couldn't contain Kanda's excitement when he took his turn at winning a cat plush toy for Lavi.

Kanda knew.

When Lavi bought new hair ties for him, which Lavi did at almost every other town he ended up in, he'd tie it around the cat's arm like a good luck charm bracelet. And then Lavi would mutter to himself that it was a pity that the cat did not have fingers to wear rings on.

Lavi knew.

Although Kanda always threatened to slice the rabbit plush toy apart every time they had an argument, Kanda actually took very good care of the toy. He always tied his hair tie around the rabbit's neck like a necktie when he let his hair down too, just so he wouldn't lose his hair tie and also because it was a replacement for Lavi's headband, since rabbits don't wear headbands. Not that they wore neckties, of course, but it was the thought that counted.

Kanda knew.

Lavi slept with the cat when they weren't together.

Lavi knew.

Kanda kept the rabbit on the nightstand at night when Lavi was away.

Both Kanda and Lavi knew.

And it was their little secret.

-----

Some time went by, and even more time went by.

A few years later, the war against the Millennium Earl, the Noahs and the Akumas was finally over.

Peace was reigning again, and while most of the inhabitants of the Black Order made ready to rebuild the world together after the destructive final battles, two exorcists were oddly missing from the group. There were some who had left for their homes, finally free of the Order's shackles after many long years of fighting, but the two who had gone missing had neither homes nor family to return to.

That left Allen quite puzzled and somewhat depressed, not knowing where two of his closest comrades had gone off to without telling him. He was happy that they were alive and probably very well, but he'd hoped to at least say a final goodbye before they left.

He barely noticed when Lenalee sat down beside him on the steps, stretching her arms.

"Isn't this so comfortable, to be able to sit here and not worry about the future for at least a while?" she asked, her face glowing with a kiss from the last rays of the warm setting sun.

Allen nodded mutely.

Then she smiled at him gently, looking as though she knew something he didn't.

"Allen, let me tell you a story."

Slightly confused, Allen nodded again.

"Once upon a time, there was a rabbit who fell in love with a cat, and there was a cat who fell in love with a rabbit."

"And then? What happened next?"

"Nothing."

"Huh? Nothing?"

She smiled wider. "Their story's still ongoing, and they'll finish it themselves. Others like us will only know how their story started, not how it will end."

-----

Once upon a time, there was a rabbit who fell in love with a cat, and there was a cat who fell in love with a rabbit.

It might sound trivial to some, silly to others, and even a joke to some others.

But it was a true fairy tale, one whereby the prince and the princess ended up together.

Let this be known as the world's shortest fairy tale with just a line, but also let it known that it is the world's happiest fairy tale.

Once upon a time, a rabbit fell in love with a cat, and a cat fell in love with a rabbit.

And they lived happily ever after.

-owari-

**A/N:** Dearest Ela, happy birthday! :D I'm sorry this fic is only a belated birthday pressie, but I'm still hoping you'll like it. Ha ha, the fic's format is slightly odd, with the drastic change in third person POVs, but Allen felt like such a good starting point for this fic.

And I really dislike this website's formatting. Why can't I space things out more? It's annoying. D:


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